Dear Editor,
One thing nobody should deny: The West offers seemingly impossible opportunities to everyone, provided that you know exactly what you want. The 34-year-old Mamdani’s victory as the first Muslim, African, South Asian immigrant elected as New York Mayor is clear proof of that. Imagine if he were still in Uganda—would he have the same opportunity? Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents who moved to the US when he was 7. He acquired his citizenship just in 2018!
Let’s also remember that The UK’s Opposition Leader, Kemi Badenoch, has Nigerian roots.
Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s parents came from Kenya and Tanzania, and Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf’s mum was also born in Kenya.
Basidia M Drammeh
Jammeh’s return
Dear Editor,
The TRRC has implicated former President Jammeh in grave human rights violations, including murder, torture, enforced disappearances, and sexual violence. The Government takes these findings with utmost seriousness. If and when Mr. Jammeh returns, robust legal processes will be activated in line with The Gambia’s laws. This will include investigation, arrest, and prosecution, with a guarantee of due process, fair trial standards, and respect for the rights of all involved.
The Government wishes to correct recent claims about the existence of a Memorandum of Understanding or any promise of immunity for the former President. No such agreement exists. The only document contemporaneous with his departure was an unsigned Joint Declaration by the African Union, ECOWAS, and the United Nations. This declaration was a diplomatic effort to secure a peaceful transition, not a binding guarantee; it conferred no immunity from prosecution, nor did it place former President Jammeh beyond the reach of the law.
As a sovereign nation, The Gambia retains the right and duty to prosecute serious crimes within its territory. No political understanding, signed or unsigned, can override this fundamental obligation.
The Government reassures all victims and their families whose testimonies were critical to the TRRC’s work that their pursuit of justice remains at the heart of the nation’s reconciliation and reform process. The implementation of the TRRC’s recommendations as endorsed in the Government’s White Paper reflects an enduring commitment to accountability, justice, and non-recurrence.”
Gambia government’s statement on Dictator Jammeh’s planned return to the scene where he committed the most egregious of crimes, The Gambia.
Pa Samba Jow
USA
